Francesco Saverio Merlino (9 September 1856 – 30 June 1930) was an Italian lawyer, anarchist activist and theorist of

libertarian socialism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (2 ...

Life

Merlino was born on 9 September 1856 in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

.Scheda biografica di F. S. Merlino
(Italian). He was raised in the Neapolitan anarchist tradition. Merlino started to participate in the militant anarchist movement in Italy during his university studies. Merlino attended the Anarchist Congress that met in London from 14 July 1881. Other delegates included Peter Kropotkin, Errico Malatesta, Marie Le Compte,

Louise Michel Louise Michel (; 29 May 1830 – 9 January 1905) was a teacher and important figure in the Paris Commune. Following her penal transportation to New Caledonia she embraced anarchism. When returning to France she emerged as an important French a ...

and Émile Gautier. While respecting "complete autonomy of local groups", the congress defined propaganda actions that all could follow and agreed that "propaganda by the deed" was the path to social revolution. In 1884, he went into exile in England and also travelled to the United States. After he returned to Italy in 1894, Merlino was arrested and had to spend two years in prison. The Belgian review ''La Société nouvelle'' published articles by Merlino in 1891 that took an anarchist viewpoint in criticizing Marxism and German socialism, but Merino also questioned anarchist principles. In 1897, his book ''Pro e contro il socialismo'' was published, reflecting his thoughts on the subject. In the following years, he developed his theory of

in arguments with his friend Errico Malatesta. In 1900, he defended

Gaetano Bresci Gaetano Bresci (; November 10, 1869May 22, 1901) was an Italian-American anarchist who assassinated King Umberto I of Italy on July 29, 1900. Bresci was the first European regicide not to be executed, as capital punishment in Italy had been a ...

, an Italian-American anarchist who assassinated King

Umberto I Umberto I ( it, Umberto Rainerio Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900. Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colo ...

in response to the

Bava-Beccaris massacre The Bava Beccaris massacre, named after the Italian General Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris, was the repression of widespread food riots in Milan, Italy, on 6–10 May 1898. In Italy the suppression of these demonstrations is also known as ''Fatti di Magg ...

. Despite killing the monarch, Bresci was not sentenced to death, making him the only person to ever kill a monarch (without toppling the monarchy) and not be executed. In 1907, the Turin daily ''La Stampa'' published an interview with Merlino, who had recanted his anarchism. The interview, titled "The End of Anarchism", pronounced anarchism an obsolete doctrine, torn by internal disputes, bereft of first-rate theorists and doomed to extinction. Leading Italian-American anarchist Luigi Galleani would attack Merlino in his own article "The End of Anarchism?", adding a question mark. Merlino died on 30 June 1930 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Major works

* ''Socialismo o monopolismo?'' (1887) * ''L'Italie telle qu'elle est'' (1890) * ''Necessità e basi di un accordo'' (1892) * ''L'individua-lismo nell'anarchismo'' (1893) * ''Pro e contro il socialismo'' (1897) * ''L’utopia collettivista e la crisi del "socialismo scientifico"'' (1898) * ''Formes et essence du socialisme'' (1898) * ''Fascismo e democrazia'' (1924) * ''Politica e Magistratura dal 1860 ad oggi in Italia'' (1925) * ''Il socialismo senza Marx. Studi e polemiche per una revisione della dottrina socialista'' (1897–1930) – Massimiliano Boni (1974), Bologna * ''Il problema economico e politico del socialismo.'' (1948)

References

; Citations ; Sources * * ; Further reading * Francesco Saverio Merlino: Tra anarchismo tradizionale e socialismo liberale. Interview with Gianpiero Landi

* Lucio Gabellini: Merlino: un socialismo "diverso

* Giampiero Domenico Berti: Francesco Saverio Merlino. Dall'anarchismo socialista al socialismo liberale (1856–1930). Franco Angeli Editore Milano. Mailand 1993. * Mirko Roberti: Il "riformismo rivoluzionario" di Saverio Merlino." Un'intelligenza critica tra marxismo e anarchismo. Il basilare dilemma socialista in un tentativo originale di mediare, in una sintesi eclittica e personale, le opposte istanze

* Franco Melandri: Un convegno su Francesco S. Merlin

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merlino, Francesco Saverio 1856 births 1930 deaths 19th-century Neapolitan people Anarcho-communists Italian anarchists 20th-century Italian lawyers Italian libertarians Libertarian socialists 19th-century Italian lawyers